There is a great need for an economical reading machine for use by blind and visually impaired people. A unique device, incorporating a handheld scanner and associated character recognition logic and allow users to input hardcopy text to computer files for general use and output through a voice synthesizer or braille output device. The handheld scanncer is robust enough to be used even by blind persons. This is made possible by a high scanning window (1 inch) and a unique patented velocity compensation circuit. The high scanning window also allows automatic format analysis, not available in any other machine currently available. Other patented techniques incorporated in this device enable the reading of very poor quality text and is inherently font-insensitive. The cost of the machine is projected to be less than $2,000.